Lowell artists pull an 'About Face'

Images by Janet Wolohan and Glenn Szegedy in 'About Face: Compelling Portraits' at the Brush Gallery

LOWELL -- About Face: Compelling Portraits, an exhibition of new portraits, is on view at the Brush Art Gallery and Studios, Market Street, from April 20-June 1.

It features floor-to-ceiling pieces by Lowell artists Glenn Szegedy and Janet Wolahan.

Portraits take various forms from commemorative to personal to propagandist. Wolahan and Szegedy delve into the personal in this exhibition.

Wolahan created portraits of Western Avenue Studio artists, where she has a studio. She took their photos, then painted portraits from the pictures. Also included are portraits of musicians she saw on her travels.

Such large-scale work is energizing, said Wolahan.

Image by jessica tawczynski at 119 Gallery

"My whole self works with the subject's whole self, engaging me and my subject as equal partners in the process," she said.

Szegedy created portraits of faces, working in pastels on large, unmounted canvases, which he pushpins on the wall to preserve their raw state.

His portraits explore the variety of feelings and emotions the face expresses and are created to allow the viewer to experience the progression from concept to completion in each work.

About Face includes an artists' reception on Saturday, May 4, 2-4 p.m., and artist talks on Saturday, May 18, 2-4 p.m. The gallery and studio hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Visit www.thebrush.org for info.

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Art picks

AT 119: Perspectives 5, an exhibition of selected paintings and drawings from the Department of Fine Arts at UMass Lowell, runs Tuesday, April 16, through Saturday, April 27, at 119 Gallery, 119 Chelmsford St., Lowell. Stephen Mishol curates the show. Visit www.119gallery.org for schedule.

SHOW-AND-TELL: Chelmsford Art Association presents a show-and-tell program on Wednesday, April 24, at 7 p.m., at Adams Library, 25 Boston Road, Chelmsford. A dozen artists working in oils, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, digital, calligraphy and beads will show their work and tell how they create it. Free and open to all.

SUBURBAN ART: A spring show is on view at the Gallery of Floral Arts, Littleton Road, Westford. Director Georgia Spanos has assembled artwork to celebrate the season... The deMenil Gallery at Groton School, 282 Farmers Row, Groton, presents an exhibition of works by Boston School artists Edmund Tarbell, R. H. Ives Gammell and Mary Minifie through June 2. Open Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Gallery closed April 28-30.